Whose Bride Is She Anyway

by Dakota Cassidy

  Yes, this was bad. Very un-Tara like. Tara didn’t even feel badly that in a small, as of yet, unrecognized way, she’d beaten Kelsey without even trying. But they were going to find out and sue the snot out of her for breaking every rule in the show’s damn contract.

  Had she said this was bad yet? This was soooo bad, so very bad. Tara was going to Hell in a handbasket and so were her plans to ruin Kelsey. Oh, God what had she done?

  Yes, that’s it, Tara told herself, remorse. Remorse is good. It validates me, your conscience. She just didn’t do things like this! Tara Douglas always followed the rules.

  Always.

  August caught her by her arms and pulled her to him.

  Tara flattened her palms against his chest and pushed away from him, but he wasn’t letting go so easily. He circled her wrist and held her with a firm grip.

  “Would you calm down? Okay, so the jury picked me … did you pick me?”

  Tara snorted, “I thought we weren’t going to talk about the show?”

  “Don’t you think that’s irrelevant no w?”

  Yeah, after all, she was just half-naked and clinging to him for all she was worth. This was definitely what one would call irrelevant.

  Oy.

  What part of no fraternization with the contestants had she been remiss in remembering? Could it be the part where you’re not supposed to be alone with them? Or was it the part about no ‘familiar relationships’ with the jury or contestants that wasn’t spelled out clearly enough for her hormones?

  Tara brushed sand from her legs. “You can’t be caught with me, August. You can’t. Kelsey likes you and you haven’t even given her a chance to get to know you … and your contract says you shouldn’t be screwing around with me or they’ll sue us.” Tara wanted to scream over that. Just throw herself on the ground and howl in a fit of temper. Damn Kelsey Little.

  “Well, I don’t like her. I spent a little time with her the other night at the pool and she wasn’t doin’ it for me like you were. I tried to figure it out, but you kept popping up. So, too damn bad, because I do like you. ”

  “That’s only because you copped a feel off me. You haven’t even had a chance to get to know Kelsey, much less cop a feel. ”

  August chuckled, his big, goofy shoulders shaking. “I copped a lot more than a feel…”

  Tara’s face burned with fury and humiliation. “O h, just throw it in my face! I wasn’t the one popping out of my pants, bucko. You started this.” She shoved a finger under his nose.

  He nipped it and smiled, “Yep.”

  Damn him and his stupid, sexy grin. He sent a wave of pure lust spiraling through her body. He left her breathless and giddy. She felt no shame in thrusting her trampy body right up against his like she’d been doing it forever. “Don’t yep, me, man of the infamous sentence in one word or less. We’re in big shit here.”

  August tangled his hands in her hair and nipped at her neck. “Yep.”

  Oh, my… Her nipples began that tingle. “August, please, we have to figure this out.”

  “Can’t we figure it out later? I have other, far bigger shit, we can get into together.” He wiggled his eyebrows.

  Tara giggled, unable to help herself. Her eyes sought his, and cupping his chin, she kissed him just one more time. He was like a potato chip, you couldn’t have just one, and they were bad for your thighs… Especially if you spread them wider than the great state of Montana for a man who was marked for someone else!

  Tracing the outline of his lips with her tongue, Tara found she just couldn’t resist. But she had to. Who was this woman, wanton and wild? Doing some guy she’d known less than a week? Where was the Tara of old who didn’t sleep with men who were contractually obligated to someone else?

  August interrupted her thoughts with, “I thought we were gonna talk?”

  Talk, yes… “Look, you can’t be caught with me. You have to go through with this because the contract is clear. You stay till you’re voted out. We would be massacred in the press if they found out what we just—just—did,” she tripped over her words as she thought about the tabloid headlines she’d seen on previous contestants who’d done far less than she had. “And I ha te to be the center of attention. Can you imagine what the press would do if they found out? Besides, you’ve been voted for by every last jury member and you were just talking with me at the barbeque. What if someone saw us under that tree? People might get suspicious. And I’m going to reiterate here, the entire jury voted for you to stay. You have no choice. This isn’t like the ‘Bachelor’ where you can just leave and take your toys with you when you choose to go.”

  August’s arms were around her waist, squeezing her gently, his fingers splaying over her hips. “I know I can’t. I know the rules. They all voted for me? Even you? ”

  Tara shook her head. “I can’t tell you that. I won’t tell you that, because I’ve already broken enough rules to satisfy a litigation attorney for a lifetime! But I will tell you, you have to show up tomorrow and smile nice for the cameras and ignore me. Don’t even look my way, or we are dead meat! Hear me? And, by the way, did we graduate together? Class of nineteen-ninety-two? I don’t remember you. ” Tara’s brow furrowed into a frown at hearing the question out loud, but she had to know.

  “Only if you promise to meet me back here, tomorrow night and yes, I think we did graduate together.”

  “I can’t, tomorrow is another competition, remember? You have to show up and win, win, win. ” Tara paused for a moment. “Why don’t I remember you? Seems to me your name is so unusual, I’d remember it. When I heard that guy calling you at the water fountain the name August didn’t ring any bells.” Had he been on the football team?

  August smiled. “I have no intention of win, win, winning the stupid date. If I don’t win, I can’t go on a date now can I? Then we can meet here and I don’t think I remember you either, but I won’t forget you now. ”

  “I can’t control who wins the date. Besides, the jury likes you. They could vote you right into the ‘last man standing round’ even if you don’t win the dates, unless you like really make Kelsey hate you and it shows on camera. Our voting is based on our impressions of you, not necessarily whether you win a date or not.” Tara frowned again. “I can’t believe we graduated in the same class and I don’t remember you. ”

  “Then I’m going to screw up the next competition no matter what it is and I wasn’t very memorable.”

  Tara laid her head against his broad chest. “No, you can’t screw it up, everyone knows how physically deft you are and brainy to boot—so stop being macho man because we—we—well, you know. You’ve been playing this game like a champ so far, except for that dress you chose… Please don’t stir up suspicion. For me? Besides, we hardly know each other. Give Kelsey a chance.”

  Ugh, the very idea made Tara ill. Not to mention the fact that she wanted to rip Kelsey’s hair out, follicle by follicle for having a shot at a man Tara wasn’t allowed to have. This was ridiculous, she’d just met August and she was jealous.

  Green with envy even. Wasn’t that part of the problem she’d had with Kelsey to begin with? She was jealous of her … and now she’d done something that would leave Kelsey curled up in the fetal position and she couldn’t even share it proudly. Damn. What a waste of a good taunting.

  August’s voice was tense, “I honestly think they make you sign that contract on the off-chance you just might turn the bride down. I almost think the producers would like that better, ya know? It would really stir the ratings up wouldn’t it? On almost all of the other reality shows you can hit the road if you find you aren’t attracted to the other person. So now I have to get voted out. It’s nuts.” August sighed. “Look, what if I told you I don’t like Kelsey quite the way I like you? And we were working on getting to know each other, if you would have talked to me at the barbeque.”

  I’d tell you, good answer. He liked her better than Kelsey? Well, shut up. Not in a million light years would she have belie
ved this. August was also right. What kind of reality show made you stay until they kicked you out? Maybe it was because the contestants could opt not to propose in the end.

  Tara closed her eyes and said, “I’d tell you, you don’t know Kelsey any better than you know me.” Her stomach clenched into a tight knot. Nice answer, very PC. Shit. She was backpedaling and doing a piss-poor job of it. She couldn’t force August to do something he didn’t want to do. He could lose a competition if he wanted to and she couldn’t stop him. It was even tickling her ego—just a little, mind you—okay, more than she was willing to admit—that he might go to such great lengths to get out of this stupid show because he was interested in her.

  August sighed. “Fine, but I’ll only agree to play nice if you agree to meet me here tomorrow night.”

  “Okay, ” Tara gave in, even if it left her feeling edgier than she already was. “I’ll meet you here tomorrow night, after date night is over. Then we can do all that getting to know one another.” She couldn’t believe she was agreeing to break more rules. But her body didn’t seem to care as much as her conscience did when it was pressed up against August’s. He was competitive. Tara had witnessed it when he’d won his first canceled date with Kelsey in the trivia contest. If she humored him, maybe that competitive spirit would kick in and he’d forget all about what happened between them.

  Which would be the story of her life. Once he got a moment or two that was almost completely alone with Kelsey, he wouldn’t want any part of Tara again.

  Damn Kelsey Little and her charm to hell.

  Tara gave him one last lingering kiss before they parted because it could well be the last. Her heart clenched tightly as she realized the best almost schtupp of her life was officially over once Kelsey got her hands on August.

  They were in major trouble if they were caught. The tabloids would have a blast if they knew the jury foreman had her hand in the cookie jar labeled “hunk”. After Tara was kicked off the island for burning her contract in effigy—that Henry guy would exploit the hell out of what she’d done, because that made for good promotion. Then, the press would dig and dig into her life and they’d find out why she was here. Or someone from high school would remind them of the “moo incident”.

  On the other hand … what an orgasm, baby…

  * * *

  Tara tugged on her shorts and crossed her legs as the phenom, otherwise known as Kelsey, trotted up and down the length of the pool. A restless night last night led to a cranky Tara this morning, as the next elimination round began.

  It was another day in paradise. Balmy breezes, hot sun and enough testosterone to make a woman tear up. Each jury member was again lined up and at the ready to observe Kelsey as they sat under the large canopy by the pool.

  Kelsey’s job was to take the list of men chosen by the jury and present them with a key to her hut, thus signifying they’d made it to round two. A key to Kelsey’s hut meant you had a shot at getting inside with it. If your key opened her hut door, you won the door prize.

  A date with Kelsey.

  Of course, Tara and August hadn’t known that last night. Tara figured the date would have to do with a physical effort, not just plain luck of the draw.

  Tara couldn’t summon up much interest in it anyway. She was too busy thinking about August, his biceps, his lips, and his … well… his skills and how that was all over if he won this date with Kelsey. He’d finally have the woman of his dreams and his roll in the sand with her would be history. All his talk of liking her better than Kelsey would be forgotten.

  “Hey, Tara,” Diana snapped her fingers at Tara to get her attention. “How much more of a show do you think Kelsey could put on? ”

  Tara blinked and caught the look of disgust on Diana’s face. Kelsey wasn’t making a real hit with the jury which was exactly what she wanted, wasn’t it? “She is good with the camera, huh? ” Tara kept her comment nonchalant and objective.

  Diana scoffed, “I’ll say she’s good. Or at least her boobs are.” A ripple of laughter skittered down their row of chairs around the pool.

  Kelsey teetered on her heels toward August, unaware that the jury was having a good laugh at her expense.

  Tara gazed at August, shoving Kelsey out of her thoughts. Why couldn’t she get a clear image of him from high school? Was he a part of the popular crowd? If they’d graduated together, surely he knew what Kelsey had done to her and that made Tara cringe. He’d learn her motives for being here and then it wo uld be all over between them.

  There was nothing to be over, Tara reminded herself.

  August’s gaze kept locking with hers from across the pool, making her flush with guilt, no doubt. She didn’t need this. Screw him.

  Tara averted her eyes to keep from hurling pool toys at Kelsey and whacking her in her big, fat, blonde, curly head. She clenched the arms of her chair, digging her nails into the wood and sinking further into the puffy cushions.

  Walter nudged her. “So who do you think will get lucky tonight?”

  Walter knew … no, no he didn’t. Now Tara’s tendency to see shadows where there were none was on overkill. Tara leaned over and smiled casually at Walter. “It’s anybody’s game tonight, I think.”

  This was so not good. All night long, guilt plagued her, keeping her tossing and turning. She was not here to sample the beefcake, yet she’d clung to August like he was the last granola bar on Survivor. Behaved like a tart and she wasn’t even into the second week. This was not something Tara did on a regular basis. She’d never felt an attraction this strong to any man, and even if she had, she certainly wouldn’t have behaved the way she did last night.

  Well, wait a second—she didn’t know that because she’d just said it herself, she’d never felt something like this. And, it was sooo good.

  Good it was, powerful and explosive and forbidden…

  She didn’t have to go through with this. She could simply stop right now. Choose a man for Kelsey, a decent one and walk away, sans national humiliation. If she could keep it that way she might leave without an ulcer. No one knew her real motives for being here except Tara and her conscience. That was one thing the cameras couldn’t have.

  Tara heard August’s deep laughter rumble as he and Vinny joked about something from across the pool. “That August sure is cute, huh, Tara?” Ms. Mary said. “I sure as hell hope he’s up to taking on Kelsey. She’s a real viper.”

  Tara giggled. She couldn’t help it. “August seems like he’s man enough to take Kelsey on, don’t you think? Maybe we’ve just been catching her at the wrong times. This show can be very stressful, Mary. All the cameras and stuff.”

  Ms. Mary wrinkled her nose. “Well then, Kelsey sure is stressed a lot. I hope August gets to see that side of her too, seeing as we can’t actually tell him.”

  Tara understood Mary’s frustration in ways she couldn’t imagine. “Eyes open and mouths shut, Ms. Mary. It’s the jury’s motto. We have to remain objective.”

  “Then I’m just going to hope August finds out about Kelsey on his own while I’m being so objective,” Ms. Mary said with a fierceness Tara didn’t quite understand.

  Tara had her own worries about what August might find out.

  What if August found out about her too? Found out that she was a spiteful, vengeful, dried up old loser from the graduating class of nineteen-ninety-two.

  A geek with a grudge.

  But … but, what about the shitty stuff Kelsey did to me? Tara asked herself, outraged at her thoughts. Kelsey humiliated me. Made me the laughing stock of my entire senior class. Should I just let that go? Leave the beast to rape and pillage yet another of my villages?

  That was rather dramatic, she admitted. She couldn’t change what had happened. But she could change how she handled it now.

  Tara also couldn’t change what had happened between them last night at the cove. She wasn’t all that sure she wanted to anyway. If this was some island fling, then so be it. It was uncharacteristic of her, but who s
aid you had to have character when the sex was that hot?

  August adjusted his dark glasses and peered out over them at Tara. She narrowed her eyes at him and she knew he got her drift because he raised one eyebrow and shoved his sunglasses back over his nose.

  Kelsey strode toward August, her perky, bikini clad breasts bouncing up and down. Tara wondered if she stuck a pin in one of those silicone bad-boys, would they deflate? Handing August the key, Kelsey smiled and kissed him full on the mouth. As she pulled away, August shuffled from foot to foot and pushed his thumb along the bridge of his nose as he glanced Tara’s way.

  There better not have been any tongues involved… The bitch needed to die.

  “See, I told you Kelsey liked him,” Ms. Mary reminded her, setting Tara’s teeth on edge.

  If Ms. Mary only knew about all the men Kelsey had zapped with her like radar.

  August caught her eye one last time. Tara couldn’t quite make out the emotion in his gaze from so far away, but he sorta had the deer in the headlight thing going on from this distance. Which meant what? He was happy Kelsey kissed him?

  Jerk.

  The nervous tension grew, ha nging thick in the humid air as Kelsey made a big production out of giving the final contestant a key. The losers exited stage left, heads hanging low.

  Now, all that they had left to do was find out which man Kelsey would go out on a date with tonight. August just better hope he had a bum key…

  Chapter Sixteen

  Kiss me once, kiss me twice…

  Well, fuck. August looked at his copper key, bewildered. Where the hell was all this luck when he’d been in the tenth grade, lusting for Kelsey?

  Now, he couldn’t get rid of it if he tried. As the cameras rolled and each contestant tried their key, he thought surely he was safe until he was almost the last man up at bat.

  Well, think again. Second-to-last at trying the lock, August’s key, (miracle of all miracles), opened Kelsey’s hut. Squeals of delight clung to his ears as Kelsey bounced excitedly up and down and hugged him. All at once, everyone was slapping him on the back and congratulating him.